how to buy a eurail pass

There are two answers to your question: 1. No - you cannot buy them in Europe. You might try having it delivered to family in the States and then have them mail it to you. 2. You might think twice about whether you need or want a rail pass. In most cases now-a-days, rail passes are not economically feasible compared with individual tickets. Especially if you can buy tickets in advance and take advantage of significant discounts. Longer trips over 4-6 hours are usually easier and cheaper to fly. The shorter trips just don't pay anymore with a pass. Plus high-speed trains require seat reservations/supplements. That limits the old adage of flexibility with a pass and adds to the cost.

2. I agree. A rail pass might not be the most cost effective or trouble free option. 1. I disagree. According to the Eurail website, some Eurail passes are available for purchase by non-European residents at major stations in Europe. They are more expensive over there than from Eurail. The available passes include global and select passes. Additionally, you don't say who you have tried to have ship you the rail pass. Eurail is the organization that "makes" the passes. You might see if they would ship a pass to you. www.eurail.com.

Thanks for the replies so far. I have already booked flights for the legs of my journey that are cheaper and quicker by plane. My train trips are limited to relatively short trips... Prague to Munich, Munich to Interlaken, Interlaken to Geneva, Nice to Marseille, Valence to Paris, Paris to Amsterdam. A total of six days within one month (June), two people traveling together. I've checked individual fares and it seems that the best deal would be the saver pass for five countries. I have also contacted a friend in the US who can send the package to me in China, in the event that it is the best option. I'll wait to see if anyone else chimes in with suggestions. Very happy I found Rick Steves!

Where did you check individual fares? For almost all those routes, P2P tickets (or in the case of Switzerland, maybe a specific Swiss-pass?) will be cheaper than the per-day average of a 5-country saver pass. The only caveat being that the cheaper P2P fares may have sold out already. Make sure you're looking using the national rail site webpage of the train companies in those various countries. TGV-Europe.com for France, etc. Do not use RailEurope.com. Depending on the pass though, you can buy it here. I bought a 2 country pass for France and Germany in Germany. Contact someone at Eurail to find out if you can buy the pass you want in your starting country, or check their webpage for the fine print about point-of-sale and passes.

Thanks Sarah. I checked individual fares using the map on one of the pages here. I'm not familiar with any of the individual country sites for rail fares, this is my first trip to Europe where I will visit more than one destination country. I guess I'm a little reluctant to make so many reservations in advance, especially for a two-month trip. I have traveled solo in the past and never made any reservations, but now I will have a companion who has very specific comfort criteria (no night travel, first class only, etc)